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Sunday, March 20, 2016

*Grabby Hands* Release - Review - Love, Chloe by Alessandra Torre

Title: Love, Chloe

Release date: March 14th, 2016

Author: Alessandra Torre

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About the book:

Chloe Madison. That's me. A former NYU princess who just fell from grace, right off my pampered Manhattan throne and onto the unforgiving steps of Nicole Brantley, socialite and queen bitch. Now, I walk her dog and mix her smoothies. Try to navigate my own problems while fixing all of hers. I want what every New York girl wants. A career, an apartment, and true love, preferably in a smoking hot package.It turns out I'll have to fight for all of it.

Alessandra Torre is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels. Her books focus on romance and suspense, all with a strong undercurrent of sexuality. Torre has been featured in such publications as Elle and Elle UK, Dirty Sexy Funny with Jenny McCarthy, as well as guest blogged for the Huffington Post and RT Book Reviews. She was also the Bedroom Blogger for Cosmopolitan.com.

You can learn more about Alessandra on her website at www.alessandratorre.com, or you can find her on Twitter (@ReadAlessandra) or Facebook.

Alessandra Torre never disappoints, does she? I first
fell in love with her writing while reading Hollywood Dirt, and that book was
fantastic. I’d never heard of Alessandra before that, but after I saw the beautiful,
clean cover and read the blurb, I immediately knew it was the kind of book that
would please me. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, though.

Love, Chloe was a different experience in many ways. I
knew Alessandra could write and that her stories were really sexy, but the
blurb didn’t give me much romance-wise. And I’m glad it didn’t mislead me into
thinking I’d be reading another sexy romance, because the love story wasn’t the
main focus here. Chloe was.

See… I was never that into Sex & the City (don’t
kill me), but I know enough about Carrie, her gang and their adventures to get
a vibe from the famous TV series while reading Love, Chloe. Another TV show
that kept coming to mind was Gossip Girl, with all the rich, gorgeous young
people exploring New York while finding themselves and someone to love. In some
ways, Chloe reminded me a lot of Serena van der Woodson, minus the drug addiction
and fortune. Both girls had strong personalities, great taste in fashion and
complicated family and romantic lives.

Chloe had been a very rich girl, like Serena, but
unlike the TV show character, she’d managed to stay away from illegal
activities. The same couldn’t be said about Chloe’s parents. Under investigation for fraud, they lost everything, which meant Chloe’s perfect life had also
turned upside down. She had no money, no job and practically no support system.
All she had were two best friends who loved and supported her through tough
times and a lot of strength to face the situation and find a way out.

That’s what I liked most about Chloe. She didn’t surrender.
Despite everything, she chose to fight.

I’m not saying Chloe was an easy character to love. At
first, she came across as this really spoiled, big city girl – much like
Serena, but she grew a lot as a character and as a person. And that was what
was so special about this story. Instead of focusing simply on her relationship
with her cheating ex-boyfriend or her feelings for her hot, but poor neighbor
(which were great aspects of the book), we got to see Chloe find a job, work
hard, make hard decisions as well as fall in and out of love.

Sure Chloe’s job wasn’t as stressful as most first
jobs are, and it paid well, but it didn’t come without its challenges. Her boss
was crazy and kept secrets that forced Chloe into making decisions that she
wouldn’t have had to before. Decisions that, though I didn’t agree with, made
Chloe more human. Just seeing her put up with some of the things she did already
made me like her better.

The romance arc was another aspect that helped shape
Chloe into a more likable character. She had to resist her very charming
ex-boyfriend, a man she still loved, because she knew he was no good to her
(hello, cheater!). I rooted for her to escape that toxic relationship, and was
more than happy to see her give a better man a chance to win her over. Carter
was first introduced to Chloe and the reader as a working class man who couldn’t
offer her the things her ex-boyfriend could, which were things Chloe initially
wanted. As Chloe grew into this less selfish, more approachable version of
herself, she also understood the chemistry she had with Carter was worth much more
than the gifts her ex could give her. Carter was willing to give Chloe
companionship, respect, a lot of orgasms (yay!!) and love. With time, she
learned to value all of that and gave him the same back. The twist involving
Carter and his family wasn’t all that surprising, but I was happy it happened.
Even happier that in the end it didn’t matter at all, and Chloe and Carter let
go of the things that linked them to the past and chose a future with each
other.

I also really enjoyed the story’s format. The
Instagram pictures in the beginning of some chapters gave it a modern feel,
bringing the reader close to Chloe and making it easy to relate to her even
though most people will never share some of the privileges she did, even after
she lost all her money. Isn’t that one of the reasons some of us follow
celebrities on social media? To get a glimpse into a life we could never have?

From what I know about this author’s previous books,
Love, Chloe is different from her other titles because it focuses more on the
main character’s growth than the romance itself (I’d call it chick-lit with
strong romantic elements), but if you’re a fan of Alessandra, you won’t regret
reading this one. There were many sexy scenes to keep you entertained while you
watched Chloe become an independent young woman who learned how to fight for the
things she wanted in life.